Dust and Echoes/In the Immediate Distance - Chapter 3

As the ship exited its jump the twin worlds of Kurese and Turese came into view of the front viewscreen. These two bodies were less planets and more a planet - satellite pair, but the smaller of the two was just large enough for them to become colloquially known as the ‘Pirouetting Planets’. They orbited each other while continually rotating around their shared sun, a smoldering white dwarf whose harsh light was a constant reminder of the years and years that had passed before it had hit the eyes of any human, and their paths sat almost uniformly in a two-dimensional plane that made days on each planet constant sunsets. Their peculiar positioning led to light only directly reaching one side of the surface of Turese, the smaller of the two, and daily eclipses on two thirds of one face of the larger Kurese. Terraforming planets so far from Sol was typically astronomically expensive (though this was the last step to complete a coveted trade net edged up against the Halifax Nebula - the border between Sapien Space and the dark beyond), but colonists had found Kurese covered in jungle and protected by a dense atmosphere. It was similar to how many planets closer to Earth had been when they were first discovered. The mystery of these life-sustaining planets that we had never observed through our extensive searching of the night sky was explained early on as a fortuitous convergence of many factors - in terms of the planets - and the fact that the sky is really, really big (Though much of each such sector’s yearly tourism went to biologists and geologists determined to find the ‘real’ reason these planets had come to such an evolved state). Kurese was the destination of the Ecosynth convoy - the expanded surface area was full of dotted vacation destinations and was the commercial center of the system; Turese was mostly used for monasteries and places of ‘spiritual’ significance, while most of the governmental activities in the area were based off of a nearby orbital station affectionately named 11F018BE6 (for clerical purposes).

As they crowned the trees ringing the landing zones at the New Denver ‘Intergalactic Starport’, which was a rather grand name for something not much different than any other airport, the stabilizing jets fired and lowered the R.S.S Return’s  ground shuttle to the tarmac below amid a sudden flurry of dry leaves and twigs. The pads nearby were full of tourists and colonials heading off in the direction of the docking port - the former group largely in brightly colored floral patterns, and the second in as-of-yet unused outdoorsy gear.

“I didn’t expect this many people on a border planet,” said Thade as he attempted to wade through the thick stream of bodies all fighting to enter the customs checkpoint line first.

“There wouldn’t ‘a been if the Republic hadn’t started handing out land for free. A whole galaxy full of newly habitable planets, and people still go running like sheep at any land they can get. They still think that the value’ll shoot up as soon as we run out of places to expand.” Cailan grunted. “As if that’ll ever happen.”

“Yeah,” said Thade,”the moment they close the Final Frontier, I’m hanging up my hat and going home.”

“You know Star Trek?” responded Cailan.

“Of course I know Star Trek. I never saw the originals, but my parents loved the remakes they made in the ‘Teens.” Thade loved the suppressed look of approval that he could see on Cailan’s face; he felt that people typically found at least one reason to give him that look within the first few days of knowing him.

They walked through the docking port, passing dozens of tropical chain restaurants and gift shops on their way. Half of the places they passed, it seemed, had in some way incorporated the unofficial mascot of Kurese: a small black and reddish-brown creature with two crystalline blue eyes. The first settlers had mistakenly assumed that the lemur’s eyes were deficient because of an ancestry of low-light conditions, and named it the ‘Caecus’, or ‘blind’, Lemur; biologists that had later come to Kurese found that in fact many species had adapted to the frequent darkness by developing night vision, but that none had succeeded to nearly the same extent as these particular indigenous mammals. Those crystalline blue orbs had the ability to see polarized light as well as a much wider wavelength spectrum than humans, reaching into infrared and even x-ray ranges. The lemurs became afterwards a darling of the biological field and a huge attraction for adventurous vacationers; rumors even spread of the lemurs being a sign of good luck. Neither Thade nor Cailan bought into that kind of thing.

They left the port and took a taxi to what would, in most cities, be called Downtown. New Denver, far less arid than the original, was the capital of Kurese and was famous for the Star, a thirty square mile area that radiated out from the heart of the city; The Star was full of grand resorts, shows, and tiny forsaken bars for the victims of the many casinos and for downtrodden blue collar workers. Cailan had been looking forward to this for a while.

“What’s with the long face, Robb?” teased Cailan. “This should be the pilgrimage of disgrace for you mercenary types.”

“That I can’t wait for, I assure you,” replied Thade.

“Then why is your face white as Sylk and just as bleedin’ unpleasant?”

“Oh come on, Sylk isn’t that bad...”

“It’s a wonder you’re still flyin’ solo,” said Cailan with a wry look at the Cap. “In what universe does ‘synthetic milk’ sound appetizing?”

“Did you know,” replied Thade after a brief pause, “that they used to make something called Silk but spelled with an ‘I’ instead of a ‘Y’? Milk from soybeans. It didn’t last very long.”

Cailan laughed. “If we could only find a weh to make milk out of corn like we do everything else, we’d be set.”

As the taxi neared its destination the center point of the Star came into view. In the middle of the massive square stood a tree that dwarfed everything surrounding it. Its canopy stretched over the huge buildings that ringed the plaza and out of sight, giving the whole area the feeling of constant night. Lights were weaved in and out of its branches and they, along with burning neon on every building, made the heart of the Star a nightlife destination - whether it actually was night or not. The lights were of every conceivable color, from lime green to deep purple. Two were even crystalline blue, as if there were a Caecus Lemur living in the tree. The area surrounding New Denver was a small jungle, and the casinos and resorts often themed themselves to match – with vines of pulsing light crawling up the sides, mechanical monkeys swinging through the trees, and tropical food and drinks with mostly imported ingredients (the colony was only halfway along in Herringer’s Method, the most commonly used guide to judging a colony’s agricultural independance). There were masses of people running around, sober and otherwise, and a few here and there who were more sedentary - leaning up against the transparent protective plastic clinging to the human-accessible base of the trunk or sitting on benches reading gossip magazines hidden inside newspapers. Cailan immediately set off in search of a good place to drink and Thade followed, only reluctantly taking his eyes off of the so-called ‘Tree of the Stars’.

As they walked along the path ringing the tree, Thade felt suddenly that he was being closely and very intently watched. He glanced around the square in search of prying eyes, but found only the twinkling lights that seemed to be almost a part of the tree itself. He grabbed Cailan’s arm and turned past a sign of a laughing, blue eyed bald man in ancient robes into one of the many almost indistinguishable pubs on the strip.

“Now he’s warmed to the idea!” said Cailan jovially.

“Not now, keep your voice down,” Thade shot back. He pulled the two of them past the tourists and travelers into one of the more secluded booths at the back of the pub. “We’re being watched.”

“No!” said Cailan sarcastically. “Two dashing rogues like ourselves? Is it the pretty blonde over there? Because I’m watching her.”

Thade gave him a tight smile. “Forces far greater than our animal magnetism are at work here, with the kind of feeling I’ve got on the back of my neck. The real question is why anyone would be interested in a hot shot merc and a drifter. No offence, I mean I didn’t choose to be the more interesting of the two of us.”

“Hello,” a new voice intoned a little too loudly, suggesting that it had waited an uncomfortably long time before making its interjection. “Welcome to the Blind Bard pub and brewery! We make all of our alcoholic drinks in house, and the special tonight is starfruit marinated steak with citrus glazed asparagus. Would you like to try one of our signature meads?”

“How about a beer for the both of us,” replied Cailan.

The waiter appeared taken aback, but scrambled off to see if they still had anything like the old drink.

“I never thought that I’d see beer go out of style in my lifetime, but now all you see are these new colony drinks or places like these tryin’ a bring back the medieval times. Mead was always too sweet for me, and I’ll take a nice hoppy beer over a garble blaster-or-whatever-they-call-them any deh.”

“We don’t have time for this, Brandon!” Thade said severely. “Someone’s on our tail, and we need to shake ‘em. I need Ideas.”

Cailan’s smile fell. “You watch too many movies.” He glanced over Thade’s shoulder. “You really think we have a tail?”

“Yea, I’m sure of it.”

“Then follow me.”

Cailan left the booth abruptly and made a line for where the waiter had retreated. Thade followed into the kitchen and was about to protest when Cailan pulled him sharply aside, shoving him against the wall adjacent to the door. Thade felt his blood start to cool on instinct, preparing for retaliation, but saw that Cailan had a huge grin and a crazed look on his face; he even detected a spark of an old flame in the older man’s eyes.

“Two heavies just walked in. I thought we’d surprise them.”

“How’d you know they were after us?” Thade said, a hint of defensiveness still in his voice.

Cailan looked over to the door. “Well you were the one with the ‘feeling’, weren’t you? Plus, I’ve dealt with these two before. Ecosynth is keeping an eye on us. And I thought no one liked me - “

Cailan cut himself short as two giant men lumbered into the kitchen with the distinct air of searching the house for the hamster that had just escaped some terrifying ordeal. Cailan’s arm shot around the neck of the first and pulled him further in the kitchen, leaving the other for Thade to deal with. The kid has to be able to hold him off for at least a few seconds. The windpipe that Cailan had wrangled - belonging to Cliff, it seemed - started to gasp and sputter, even as the attached arms flailed backwards in a futile attempt to find some purchase on its attacker. Out of the corner of his eye, Cailan saw a quick fluid movement followed by Thade standing over Sam’s unconscious shape. Cailan took Cliff’s knees out from under him and pulled one arm behind his back, tying it to the other one in short order and adding a jab to the jaw to soften his disposition.

“Hello again… Cliff, is it?” said Cailan. “May I ask what brings you fine gents to this old shack on a delightful day like this?”

Cliff spat out a mixture of froth and blood. “Don’t play dumb, Cailan. You turned down our offer and suddenly hitch a ride with the parasites? It’s not like we weren’t going to keep track of you. Ecosynth wants to make sure you don’t get in the way. I hope you do, maybe they’ll let me kill you myself.”

“Oh, did you figure that out by yourself?” Cailan replied in the most sarcastic voice he could manage. “I thought they paid you not ‘a think. Don’t worry, I won’t tell – and thank you. It’s good to know that they would be careless enough to toss me to your unwieldy meat-hooks. Tell Ecosynth I don’t care about them. I wanted to see the edge of space, and even with them blocking my view I am seeing it.”

The waiter, who by now had finally found the beverage he had been looking for and was returning triumphantly to their table, stumbled to a dumbfounded stop in front of the scene. Cailan took one of the beers, popped the top on a counter, took a swig, and broke it over Cliff’s head.

“A waste,” said Cailan. “That was an Earth import.” He threw a few dollars onto the waiter’s tray and led Thade back out onto the main square, leaving the waiter to deal with the two unconscious forms. He started walking quickly to put distance between them and the ruckus that they had just caused, though brawling was not entirely uncommon in this area. He addressed Thade. “Where’d you learn to fight?”

“Earth, a long time ago,” replied Thade curtly. “What does Ecosynth want with you?”

Cailan sighed, but kept moving. “They offered me a job, most likely smuggling. The fact that they are this touchy about anyone getting near their operation in the DZ is very interesting. Not my deal anymore, though – this little play served the purpose they wanted it to. I’m not going to fight them on whatever they’re doing there.”

“Don’t you want to know why they are being so secretive?” Thade asked, trying to keep up with Cailan’s brisk pace.

“I want to survive,” replied Cailan. ”Playing the DZ game with the Government can get me a slap on the wrist, but playing with the Big Boys is not something you can survive for long, or those that you care about for that matter.” He added, without humor, “Sometimes it’s good to be unattached.”

“You don’t want some adventure, something to be proud of and to tell your kids about?” Thade prodded. “It’s not a weakness to be attached to something, or to care about something. I’ve learned at least that much from – I don’t know – every book or movie ever made.”

Cailan stopped, forcing Thade to evade some of the more persistent foot traffic coming from behind them. “First off, a person who’s done and seen the things that I have shouldn’t be a father.” Cailan’s voice rose slowly as he spoke. “I will fight when I find something worth fighting – worth dying – for. Until that happens I am not the hero of the play or the knight in shining armor. I’m the one who lived to tell the story.” His voice dropped at the last sentence, and Thade knew that he was done with the conversation.

“Sometimes we don’t know that someone needs a hero,” Thade added, almost to himself. He looked at the tree that dominated the larger part of their view. It looked like the color had changed a little since they had been inside.  “Does it seem… I don’t know… bluer than before?”

“That’s just you bein’ a feartie, “ Cailan replied with a hint of his typical cynical smile. ”Don’t worry, with any luck we’ll be seeing plenty more stars tonight.”

*    *    *

“No, we’re just in for the night.”

“Both from Earth, actually.”

Now he’s starting to relax.

“Well I must admit, I love the colonies.”

“Is it true that you colony girls go wild for us Terrans?”

-

“C’mon, just one more, Mr. Hot Shot!”

“Sit down, Robb. We wouldn’t want to disappoint these burdies, would we?”

-

“No, no. I really don’t dance. Not that I can’t, just not with this much – “

“Maybe, if you want me to make a fool of myself.”

Those lips look kind of like strawberries. .  . I wonder if they taste like strawberries. ..

-

Ease up, kid. You can’t eat her lips, no matter how hard you try.

-

What iS her name? Did Inot asK? She’s vErry friendly. How diD we mEet?

-

I uuh… I don’T thiNk this iS my rOom.

“I’m going to make myself more… comfortable. Hee!”

DefiNeteLy nOt.